Saturday, January 24, 2015

I am taking and enjoying Kim Klassen's Be Still 52 photography course. This week, one of the ideas was to focus on creating a still life photograph with lots of white space. Long time blog readers know that I struggle with this concept. But, this week, I took a few deep breaths and managed to make peace with the concept in these photographs of an old Brownie camera that Clara's track coach gave me as a gift.

I am finding that I really enjoy setting up Still Life photographs . . . thinking through what props to use, what type of background, fiddling with my camera settings (so far, I've been using my fixed 50mm lens exclusively), finding the right angle, looking for the best light.

For me, the missing element is still post-processing. I used to have PSE on my computer and a serviceable handle on how to use it. But that computer is long dead, along with (I fear) those brain cells. It seems like Light Room might be the best way to go these days, and I am slowly resigning myself to learning how to use it. I figure that the class is 52 weeks, so I have plenty of time to learn it. Because I think all three of these photographs, but especially the last two, could be improved tremendously with some added texture. Thoughts on still life, white space and light room really appreciated - as well as feedback on these photographs.

9 comments:

I started to learn Lightroom last year - and I really love it. I still use PSE for textures, adding text to my photos if I want to, but my real go-to post processing tool is Lightroom. There is still tons more I could learn in using Lightroom, but so far so good. I'm contemplating starting to shoot in RAW which would be perfect with Lightroom.

I love that middle photo in particular - it feels very restful. And would look lovely with some texture. It can feel a bit daunting learning something new and seemingly complex but as I remember, Kim is a great teacher and knows her stuff. Looking forward to seeing what you decide ...

I join the others in liking the middle one best. A quick way to get a lot of white into your photographs is to put a chair in front of a window and drape something white over it, add your props ... and there you are, lots of white and lots of light.

I've been shooting exclusively in RAW for a couple of years now, and love Lightroom. It's a powerful program, and I don't use half its power, but I do a first edit there on all my photos. I then take them into PSE 11 where I crop and sometimes use RadLab or some Pioneer Woman actions on the photos. One of my favorite parts of Lightroom is its ability to keep my photos well organized.

I love white space in a photo particularly with still life. I use Photoshop CC, Aperture for organising and Rad Lab which, although expensive (for me) I think was money well spent. Kim's tutorials on working with textures are wonderful as are her textures. They all have a calm soft quality about them.

Maria "Rinda" Ontiveros

Artist & Blogger

2016 Summertime Scavenger Hunt

The List!

1. A "wild heart" - a naturally occurring heart (like the rock above, but it doesn't have to be a rock)2. A footprint or pawprint3. A skeleton, bone or x-ray4. A book or magazine read during 20165. A porch or deck6. A camper (caravan)7. A family gathering8. A drawing, art project, artistic photograph, scrapbook page, greeting card, or art journal page created by you.9. Someone playing with, in, or around water.10. A bicycle11. Fresh produce12. A window13. The moon14. A buffet of food15. A team logo16. A map showing a trip taken during the time period17. Twins18. A supermarket cart, basket or trolley full of groceries 19. A seasonal cocktail or beverage20. Someone laughing21. A photograph of you with a newspaper or calendar page from the time period covered in the Hunt. Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.Alternatives - if you're having trouble finding any of the above, you may substitute from this list (but you may not substitute for item #21):alternative 1: a lighthousealternative 2: a baby (human or animal)